Choose the one guy you can’t have . . .
As captain of a San Francisco Bay tour boat, Pru can handle rough seas—the hard part is life on dry land. Pru loves her new apartment and her neighbors; problem is, she’s in danger of stumbling into love with Mr. Right for Anybody But Her.
Fall for him—hard . . .
Pub owner Finn O’Riley is six-foot-plus of hard-working hottie who always makes time for his friends. When Pru becomes one of them, she discovers how amazing it feels to be on the receiving end of that deep green gaze. But when a freak accident involving darts (don’t ask) leads to shirtless first aid, things rush way past the friend zone. Fast.
And then tell him the truth.
Pru only wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the historic fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story—because Pru’s been keeping a secret that could change everything. . . .

Sweet Little Lies (Heartbreaker Bay #1)

By Jill Shalvis

Omissions and lies…have the power to hurt

I read Sweet Little Lies in a day. Unfortunately, it was because I woke up at 4:00am. I am not one of those people who gets lulled to sleep with the sound of the rain outside the window. I’m the poor sucker who hears a few drops…and I’m done, with no hopes of getting back to sleep. Luckily, this was a really great story so I was actually grateful for the extra reading time.

Jill Shalvis is by far one of my favourite contemporary romance authors. Her writing has the power to suck you in, make you laugh, bring a tear to your eye and set your heart pounding. I’ve said this a few times before about Jill Shalvis’s work…but THIS time, I mean it…Sweet Little Lies is exactly what a great contemporary romance should be. I know I shouldn’t compare but as of this moment, Sweet Little Lies is my favourite of all her books.

Sweet Little Lies starts with an introduction to Pru Harris and her mutt Thor. When I first met Pru I wasn’t sure what I was getting. She came across a little sad, a bit down on herself and kind of lonely. Yes, she had Thor, but you can still have a dog and be a little lonely too. In dribs and drabs, we get to hear a little bit about her history and what had got her to this point in her life. She’s a 26-year-old tour boat captain with only one living relative, her Grandfather who lives in a retirement home. The one thing that has driven her up until now is righting the wrongs that were the consequence of her parents getting in a car to pick her up from a friends house. The repercussions are far-reaching and have ruined a few lives. Pru’s guilt has ruled her life but what she doesn’t realise is that her deeds were exceptional and not needed or expected. Pru does these things at a sacrifice to herself. Next good deed for Pru is to become the Fun Whisperer for Finn O’Riley.

Finn O’Riley is a busy man. He owns and runs a pub with his younger brother Sean. Sean is a bit of a handful. He’s a flirting, wise-arsed 22 years old with a love em and leaves em attitude that gets him into a spot of trouble. Finn is also fixing up the family home to sell because the memories the house contains are not all pleasant. Finn has been Sean’s carer/parent since his father died when Sean was 14 and Finn was 21. Their father wasn’t a good one, but he was still there to parent up till then. The brothers are close because of this but Finn has had to parent Sean for so long that now Sean’s older, they’re both struggling to step away from the parent/child relationship to sibling relationship. Finn is coming to realise that he’s dedicated enough time to Sean’s comfort and happiness and wants some fun for himself. Time to bring in the Fun Whisperer.

Pru and Finn are attracted to each other from the very beginning. It’s been a while for Finn, and Pru has only had very limited experience with men. While they are both very keen to take their relationship further, both of them are holding themselves back. Pru has omitted to tell Finn that she had a connection to him before they even met and Finn was holding himself back because he’s been hurt by love before. Her omission hurts Finn just as much as if she’d lied and his first reaction is to hurt her back. Their journey is at time bumpy, extremely funny and sexy as all heck.

Sweet Little Lies introduces us to a great bunch of people. Finn’s best friends are funny, quirky and a little different. I’m hoping we get to see stories for each of them. We also get to meet Pru’s boss Jake and I REALLY want to know his story. I won’t tell you why, but he is SERIOUSLY intriguing. Some of the scenes had me busting a gut laughing, especially the homeless guy who likes to burn off his pot seedlings in the courtyard of Pru’s apartment building. It’s amazing how hungry everyone gets after that.

Sweet Little Lies is one of my favourite contemporary romances this year. I definitely recommend it if you like a sweet story, with a decent amount of heat, enough angst to keep the story interesting, but not too much to send you screaming. I finished this story with a big smile on my face.